Box Office: ‘Heretic’ and ‘Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ Vie for Second, ‘Venom 3’ Notches Third Weekend on Top

variety.com:

J. Kim Murphy The major Hollywood studios skirted this weekend and held off on new releases, a decision that likely hedged against an uncertain national mood following the presidential election.

Their absence is others’ gain though, as A24‘s tricky thriller “Heretic” and Lionsgate’s seasonal play “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” each look to make a solid impression in their opening weekends.

But it’s Sony’s “Venom: The Last Dance” that continues to stay on top of domestic charts. After an underwhelming opening weekend, the “Spider-Man” spinoff has been putting up solid holds, turning in another one here. “The Last Dance” added $3.9 million on Friday, on its way to about $14 million for its third weekend of release.

It has now notched $100 million in North America and will pass “Alien: Romulus” ($105 million), “IF” ($111 million) and “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” ($113 million) over the next few days to become the 14th-highest-grossing domestic release of the year.